To Hear His Voice
by Echo-kun
Summary: After yet another attempt to steal the Byakugan, Hinata has fallen into a coma. Her friends and family are concerned about her, but there is nothing they can do. A little NaruHina towards the end!
1. I'm Awake?

The sun streamed in cheerfully from the large windows facing the door. All the curtains were drawn back and the entire room was neat and orders as the Konoha hospital always was. The only colors that broke the white monotony of the room came from the bright bouquet of flowers, lighting up the room with splashes of reds, oranges and yellows. The girl would have loved them if she had been aware of the visitors that had just dropped by to deliver them and talk to her - even if she couldn't respond.  
>The nurse looked over at the machine as it solemnly sounded a beep; the girl's heart beat was calm and regular, as though she were merely sleeping, but they knew better - even Tsunade-sama had said that she might never wake up again. Despite that, her teammates and family kept visiting her. Hyuuga Hinata - she certainly was important to everyone.<br>A loud knock at the door drew the nurse's attention. Without waiting for an answer, the door opened, admitting a brown-haired boy, a large dog and another male mostly hidden by a large jacket and dark glasses - Inuzuka Kiba, his companion Akamaru and Aburame Shino - Hinata's teammates. The nurse nodded to them and exited, closing the door behind her and giving them some time alone.  
>Akamaru padded up to the bed, nudging the pale girl with his nose, whining and turning to Kiba as he didn't receive any response.<br>"Yeah, I know Akamaru," Kiba dropped into the chair beside Hinata's bed, "but we can't do anything now."  
>"Why? Because we failed to protect our teammate from the enemy." Shino said.<br>"Dammit!" Kiba's fist collided with the armrest frustratedly, his face twisted into a scowl. "This is all our fault!" If only he had used the last of his stamina to help find her! They could have broken the genjutsu and saved her from the coma!  
>"No, it was mine." A calm voice admitted from the door.<br>Kiba looked up, catching sight of the jounin and chuunin at the door. "Neji... Ten-Ten..."  
>"I should be the one almost dead by now, dammit! If I had noticed earlier, Hinata-sama...!" Neji's hands were balled into fists at his side.<br>The kunoichi at the Hyuuga's side put a hand on his shoulder sympathetically. "Come on, Neji! You did your best!" She consoled him. "And so did you guys, Kiba, Shino." She added, turning to the others.  
>Neither felt that they could answer Ten-Ten in the awkward atmosphere; it seemed that Hinata was the only one unaffected by this, eyes closed and resting peacefully. The only way to really tell that she was alive was the constant <em>beep... beep...<em> that the machine muttered.  
>No one was really sure how to break the silence and it almost seemed as if they would stay that way until the cry was heard.<br>_"Hinata!"_ All five occupants of the room were drawn to the faint but obvious shout - it was Uzumaki Naruto! "Hinata!" He yelled unceremoniously as he shoved the door open, narrowly missing Ten-Ten.  
>"Naruto..." Shino greeted him as Naruto rushed over, standing over the coma-stricken girl. He was breathing heavily and had probably just run all the way from the Hokage's office. His blue eyes were trained on Hinata in desperation.<br>"Damn it! Hinata, why?" Naruto's fist hit the white covers on the bed. "Wake up! Hinata!"  
>Having recovered from the shock, Kiba blinked and grabbed Naruto's shoulder. "Hey! Are you trying to kill her? Be a little gentler, idiot!" He told Naruto, frowning. Akamaru barked in agreement.<br>The blond shinobi turned around and opened his mouth, shooting back a retort and sparking another argument between them.  
>"W-wait, this isn't the time to be arguing!" Ten-Ten attempted to talk some sense into them.<br>"Don't bother, Ten-Ten." Neji sighed, shaking his head.

_"Kyaa!" Hinata was thrown back onto the ground, skidding back from the impact of the kick. "Ugh!" A terrible pain made itself known, spreading from he back to her chest. Involuntarily, Hinata doubled over as her blood forced itself out of her mouth. Just her against the five of them was bound to get her killed, but she couldn't give up! That was exactly what they wanted; that and her Byakugan.  
>Although she was breathing heavily and every cell in her body hurt, Hinata forced herself up, painfully raising a hand in front of her in the classic juuken stance. Naruto-kun wouldn't forgive her if she gave up!<br>"Still willing to fight? Hmph! I'll finish it with this, we don't need you alive!" The shinobi in front of her started molding chakra; water nature chakra, her eyes told her. "Suiton: Suiryuudan no jutsu!"  
>Hinata braced herself, but the five meter wall of water swept her against the rock and crushed her against it, making unbearable agony blossom throughout the Hyuuga's entire being. As the water subsided, she fell forwards, crumpling onto the wet ground.<br>_Ah..._Even without the Byakugan Hinata knew she was dying._ I wish... I wish that I could hear Naruto-kun's voice... just one last time..._ Hinata thought, trying in vain to picture her crush's warm grin in the chilly blackness._ Naruto-kun... I'm sorry...  
>"Hinata!"<em> The strong, familiar voice called. From the darkness, a beam of light shined onto her face.<br>This voice... Naruto... kun...?_ Hinata's eyes opened slowly, adjusting to the foreign-looking light. _Was that really...?_  
>"Hinata! Get a grip on yourself! Hinata!" Those blue eyes... tanned skin... blond hair... right over her!<br>"H-heh?" She mumbled, confused. "Naruto... kun?" Just now, that blackness... could it be a dream?  
>As he saw her eyes open, Naruto grinned and grabbed Hinata, bringing her to a sitting position and gaining a protest from Kiba. "Hinata! You're ok!" He cried, hugging her joyfully.<br>Realizing that she was in her crush's arms, Hinata blushed, realizing how warm he was. "N-Naruto-kun!"  
>"Hinata!" Kiba-kun's voice! Looking to her left, Hinata caught sight of everyone else: Kiba, Akamaru, Shino, Neji and Ten-Ten!<br>"Kiba-kun... everyone..." She managed to say softly.  
>"Oi! Hinata!" Naruto's voice drew the Hyuuga's attention once more as he pulled away, keeping his hands on her shoulders and holding her at arm's length. "Promise me you won't ever do that again! You were asleep for a week! Everyone was so scared! Really, causing that much trouble..."<br>Hinata looked down, truly touched by Naruto's lecture. "I'm sorry..." She mumbled. "Neji nii-san, Kiba-kun, Shino-kun, Akamaru..."  
>Kiba waved away the apology. "It's nothing! All that counts is that you're awake!" Akamaru barked in agreement, wagging his tail happily.<br>Naruto laughed and slapped Hinata on the back, earning a slightly flustered cry and everyone else's laughter. Hinata herself smiled timidly. _I got to see his smile again... I'm so happy! Thank you, Naruto-kun!_


	2. Last Day at Konoha Hospital

**Last day in Konoha Hospital**

"Good night, Hinata!"

"Good night, Naruto!"

Giving her another of his infamous grins, the orange-clad ninja hopped out of the window, shutting it behind him so that the girl wouldn't have to close it herself. "I'll see you tomorrow!" He said through the glass. After receiving a small wave, Naruto finally departed, heading back to his own apartment. Normal people would probably have used the door, but since he had broken the eight o'clock curfew by quite a few hours, he didn't really want to be pummeled by a certain pink-haired, vivacious girl… but on the other hand, she herself would probably be in bed.

The blond ninja gave an unnaturally loud yawn—perhaps he should have promised to visit later at nine instead of seven the next morning. Too late for that, he could already see his home.

Hinata wriggled down, pulling the covers over her nose and smiling to herself. She would only have two more days before she was discharged from the hospital, making her current stay a grand total of ten days—seven of which was spent unconscious. While she didn't remember them, the past three days completely made up for it – there were constant visits from everyone – Kiba-kun and Akamaru, Shino-kun, Neji nii-san and Ten-Ten, Ino who brought fresh flowers everyday, Sakura, who always made sure that she was comfortable and Naruto with his ever-ready grin always ready to cheer her up.

Thinking of him, Hinata closed her eyes, allowing her smile to grow even wider – Hinata, I brought some ramen to eat, he'd always say. Now it was always "Hinata" and not "Hinata-chan" and "Naruto" not "Naruto-kun". When had that changed? She still couldn't figure it out…

Lulled by pleasant thoughts, she slowly drifted into a quiet bliss.

_Knock, knock!_

A vague sound made its way to her ears. At first, she thought it was her hyperactive imagination, but when it persisted, she opened her eyes, turning to the right where curtains blocked the sun out – she didn't remember closing the curtains last night though…

"Hinata!" He called as loudly as he dared. "Are you in there?" As promised, he was at the Konoha hospital promptly at seven, though it seemed that Hinata wasn't responding. Who had shut the curtains? He sure didn't and Hinata probably didn't either. Just as he was about to knock again, the curtains were pushed open, revealing a pale girl smiling happily at him.

Grinning happily, he leaned back a little to give her some space to open the window, taking extra precaution to make sure that the soup in the foam container didn't spill. It had taken a while, but Naruto had managed to convince the owner to give him extra char siew for free.

"Good morning, Naruto," Hinata said as she pushed the windows open, stepping aside to let him come in.

"Hehe! Yo, Hinata!" He grinned, hopping in and landing lightly to make sure that the aforementioned soup would not be disturbed. "I brought us breakfast!"

Hinata smiled, "thank you Naru—" she attempted to say before she was cut off as Naruto grabbed her gently around the waist and deposited her on her bed with one arm. Quite against her own will, she started to blush once more, remembering how she could feel his warmth through the thin layer of hospital clothes that they put her in. When he held her to him, she could feel his muscles under his orange jumpsuit and the sheer joy radiating off him and sending her into a mysterious ecstasy.

When she looked up once more, the Hyuuga realized that she wasn't the only one feeling it; the blond was also grinning wider than usually as he carefully unpacked the ramen, taking out two large foam containers topped with plastic lids and two pairs of chopsticks. She watched as he pushed the table over, setting it in front of her before turning to get himself a chair and positioning it so that he was sitting right in front of her.

"Idatakimasu!" He cheered as he broke open his chopsticks, ripping the plastic cover off and digging into the food eagerly.

Hinata giggled, choosing to take the plastic cover off before breaking her own pair open. "Idatakimasu," she replied, starting to eat as well. Although she had been having the exact same thing for breakfast for the past two days, the blissful surprise was still the same. No matter how many times she had it before, it was still the best thing she had to eat.

No sooner than ten minutes later, Hinata was already slurping up the last of the heavenly miso soup, setting the now empty foam down on the table and wiping her mouth with a napkin, emitting a content sigh.

"Hey, Hinata," Naruto said, trying to get her attention. When he found that her pale eyes were trained on him, he continued once more, "you're getting released tomorrow, right?"

Hinata thought for a while before nodding. "Mm." She replied, giving a little smile. She was happy to get out of the hospital rooms were everything was white, but that would mean that Naruto wouldn't visit her any more, especially since they had told her that she had to stay in bed for at least a couple of days.

"… Then can I still come and visit you?" Naruto asked.

The Hyuuga's head shot up in disbelief, cheeks flushing slightly as she looked at the boy across the table. For once, he actually looked a little shy; his eyes were trained to his left and he had a soft blush on his cheeks, mirroring hers. _He cares for me…_ Hinata thought, still shocked by the sudden request. Even though she didn't answer immediately, her heart was already set.

"Of course you can, Naruto-kun," both Hinata and Naruto looked up to see the tanned man at the door. He had long brown hair pulled back into a loose pony tail and pale eyes like Hinata's. He also wore the traditional robes of the Hyuuga clan.

"F-father!" Hinata managed to squeak out, surprised by his sudden appearance. "Hanabi!" Her sister had just peeked out from behind Hiashi's robes, smiling hesitantly.

The two walked in, closing the door behind them. Like Hinata, Naruto was at a loss for words to say and could only stare at the leader of Konoha's most powerful clan.

Hanabi rushed to join Hinata, sitting beside her on the bed and clasping her sister's left hand shyly, as though she were lending some of her confidence to her.

"Well, first of all I have too many thanks to tell you, Naruto-kun." Hyuuga Hiashi started as he crossed his arms, leaning back against the wall to face the three younger ones.

Naruto shook his head, "no, I didn't do much, really…" he started saying modestly.

Hiashi shook his head, "Neji tells me that it was you who managed to wake my daughter up, even though the medics said that there was actually only a 20% chance of her recovering." Seeing Naruto's eyes widen, he proceeded to elaborate. "Yes, Tsunade-sama lied to you all about the chances, though I am not sure why she did it.

"Even then, you still managed to help Hinata in all the days following, spending as much time as you could with her, even breaking the curfew once." Hiashi's eyebrows raised as Naruto rubbed the back of his neck. Stealing a glance towards Hinata, the blond found that she looked just as confused as he probably felt; why was Hiashi giving them this whole speech?

Beside Hinata, Hanabi was still fidgeting and even started playing with Hinata's fingers, she could tell that her sister was pale, she knew that, but now she seemed to be even paler than before; perhaps she needed more sun. Stealing a glance upwards, she found that both Hinata and Naruto were looking at Hiashi, seeming dumbstruck if anything. A small smile played over her lips – they were in for a big, big surprise.

**A/N: Does this chapter seem half-hearted? I dunno. I'm stuck in my room after having five (yes, you read correctly) wisdom teeth pulled. I wonder why I left off here~?**

**Anyways, look forward to the next chapter? I promise that it'll come… either before or after I update KR 12. c:**


	3. Discharged from Konoha Hospital

**Discharged from Konoha Hospital**

"Hinata! I'm here!"

The door flew open, emitting a blond boy.

"Naruto!" The girl replied happily, jumping up from the bed that she sat on and proceeded to greet him by throwing her arms around him. She was still in her pale hospital clothes even though she was meant to have changed out of them half an hour ago.

Pressing a hand to her back, Naruto snickered, "sorry I'm late, I got lost." He apologized, handing the Hyuuga a bag of clothes. "Hanabi packed these for you."

Pulling away, Hinata nodded, "thank you, Naruto." Taking them, she fled to the bathroom, calling over her back, "wait a second, please!" It was as though she were afraid that he was going to sneak away or disappear once she was in the bathroom.

"Ok! Take your time!" Naruto called back as she locked the bathroom door.

Hanging the bag on the hook by the door, Hinata looked at the clothes inside, dressing as quickly as she could. Today was the day she would finally get out of the hospital! Naruto said he would bring her to eat at wherever she liked once she was out and she also wanted to visit Kurenai-sensei, who hadn't been able to visit her because of her child. Kiba had told her that their Sensei wanted Hinata to visit her once she was well.

Bending down to do up her sandals, Hinata folded up the hospital clothes and put them in the bag, unlocking the door and coming out. "Sorry for taking so long, Naruto!" She apologized, pale eyes locating the orange-clad ninja as he lounged in a chair.

As his blue eyes located her, Naruto grinned and stood up. Hinata was in black capris and a purple jacket. She looked as though she were back to normal and ready to go on missions; if he didn't notice that she wasn't wearing her forehead protector he would have thought she was completely fine. "Hah! You're actually pretty quick!"

"Really?" Hinata sounded unconvinced. However, as she looked at Naruto, he couldn't see any trace of skepticism in her eyes – beautiful eyes that seemed to hold the moon in them.

Naruto nodded vigorously, "definitely," he answered, but refusing to elaborate further. Instead, he looped his arm with hers jovially, leading her to the door. "Come on! Today's our first real date!"

Hinata, who hadn't been blushing before had now turned an interesting shade of burgundy. "D-d-d-date?" She stuttered, heart fluttering like a hummingbird's wings. Naruto hadn't said anything about a date! What was she going to do? She hadn't even dressed up or anything! Oh dear, she just wasn't ready!

Taking one look at her, Naruto burst out laughing as he opened the door and led her outside. "Oops! I guess I forgot to ask you if—"

"Ask her if _what_?" A familiar voice interrupted the blond.

Freezing involuntarily, Naruto turned to look from a flustered Hinata to an intimidating Sakura. The pink-haired medic was glaring at him in quite a scary way, making him take an involuntary step back. "S-sakura..." Now it was his turn to stutter.

"Sakura-chan!" Hinata's eyes widened as she looked to her friend, instinctively pulling Naruto closer to her as she did so. "I-we-uh..." She fished around for words in her head, but were unable to find any.

The silence was dragged out longer and longer, with Sakura glaring unforgivingly at Naruto. Finally, he managed to squeeze a coherent response out of himself. "Um... Hinata is discharged... right?"

"... Yeah." Sakura replied shortly, still glaring at the pair, but making no move to stop them.

Naruto laughed embarrassedly, "ok then! I guess we're free to go!" With that, he hurried past Sakura, Hinata still clinging to his arm like a barnacle.

The medic grinned as she heard their footsteps fade; whenever she checked up on Hinata, she always had some kind of story to tell about Naruto. She knew that Naruto was really trying his best to please Hinata – even to the point that he had fallen for her. Despite that and knowing Naruto's personality, she couldn't help but be worried for the pair; Naruto could be a dumbass at times. For now things seemed to be ok and it would continue to be so. She, Haruno Sakura would make sure of it. If he made Hinata cry...

Shaking the thought out of her head, she walked on to check on the patient in the next room, confident that Naruto wouldn't mess this one up.

"That was scary!" Naruto breathed a sigh of relief as he and Hinata stepped out of the Konoha hospital and into fresh air. He grinned at the Hyuuga heiress, still clinging to his arm but smiling happily.

Her grip relaxed slightly as they walked out to Konoha village. Feeling her excitement grow, Hinata stood on her tiptoes, trying in vain to see the whole village that she had missed for one week. "It feels good to be back!" She strained to see as far as she could, not daring to activate her Byakugan at this stage. "I've missed this place!"

Somehow Naruto had managed to wiggle out of her grasp and grabbed her around the waist, earning a high-pitched squeal from Hinata as he lifted her up. "Na-naruto!" She cried frantically.

Naruto laughed, "you can see much better like this, can't you, Hinata?" He asked her, ignoring the majority of her protests. He was strong enough to do this and Hinata herself was pretty light. Quite different to his carefree thoughts, Naruto suddenly noticed the girl's womanly figure; in fact, he was pretty sure that she had a bigger cleavage than Sakura had and a nice hourglass shape.

"Naruto! I'm going to fall!" Hinata's terrified voice pierced his thoughts and brought him back to the real world. _Why was I having those thoughts?_ He asked himself, slightly angry for thinking such perverted thoughts about her.

True to Hinata's predictions, Naruto let her drop, earning a terrified shriek before he caught her in his arms bridal style. "Hehehe! I'll always be there to catch you if you fall, Hinata! So don't be afraid and trust me!"

The Hyuuga's face turned bright red, but before she had the time to beg him to put her down, he had started running again. Still afraid that something might happen, she automatically reached up and locked her arms around his neck, pressing herself to his body, eyes still wide from the shock and surprise.

There were not many people around the hospital, making Naruto's path an easy, straightforward one. Grinning, he sped up just a little more, making the few passers stare at them in a peculiar manner. The blond didn't mind; he was happy enough with Hinata in his arms and her arms around him. Well, _Sakura_ wouldn't do something like this! His mind whispered at him, obviously falling for the Hyuuga heiress.

"Watch out!"

Naruto laughed as someone screamed at his reckless pace; they were now getting to the more popular part of Konoha and there were more and more people. Hinata was obviously aware of this, as she begged him to slow down.

"Naruto! Please slow down!" She cried, tensing up even more as he started swerving from side to side to avoid people. "We're going to collide with someone!"

Laughing, Naruto skid to a dramatic stop, almost falling over as he did so. "Woah!" He shouted, struggling to find his balance. For a moment, they seemed like they were going to tip over and Hinata squeezed her eyes shut. "Hehe! I knew I'm awesome!" Naruto snickered as he let Hinata down. He was wearing a triumphant grin on his face that widened even more when Hinata grabbed his arm. "So... let's go to see Kurenai-sensei, shall we?"

"M-mm!" Hinata nodded, returning the grin with a smile. Both were completely oblivious to the bemused stares the citizens of Konoha were giving them.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Ok, I know I took my time uploading this, but I really love Dawning Red. Sowwy to you peoples! D:  
>Once again, sorry for the slow update. I notice I like ending my chapters with fluff. xD<br>**


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